Gwynedd Archaeological
Trust Regional Historic Environment Record
Betws Bwchwdw, Site of, Penyfynwent
Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 2102 Trust : Gwynedd Community : Rhosybol Unitary authority : Ynys Mon NGR : SH43358884 Site Type (preferred type first) : MEDIEVAL ENCLOSURE Status : Scheduled Monument
Description : Bettws Bwchwdw (church symbol shown within enclosure). <1>
Bettws Bwchwdw - site of an early building on an eminence three quarters of a mile south of Parys Mountain towards the western end. <2>
Capel Tegeryn by Trysglwyn Amlwch from Hughes old manuscript may be a Bettws Bwchwdw, Pen y Fynwent 2.5 miles south by west of Amlwch church. <3>
Remains of a chapel dedicated to St. Morwenna at Bettws Bwchwdw. <4>
Pen-y-Fynwent earthwork in the eastern part of the parish on a low hill between the 200 and 300ft contours, a small pentagonal enclosure with a single bank and ditch and traces of an entrance in the N.E. side, the area enclosed being about 110ft square. The site has been denuded by ploughing. <5>
Pen-y-Fynwent (43358884). <6>
A much-ploughed down earthwork consisting of a roughly pentagonal bank, up to 0.7m high with traces of an outer ditch except on north-east side, where there is a simple entrance. Local traditional holds Pen-y-Fynwent to be the site of Capel Tegeryn. Published 25" survey revised. <7>
SH 433 887: Pen-y-Fynwent enclosure, scheduled. <8>
A pentagonal earthwork enclosure defined by a bank and external ditch, with an entrance causeway on the NE. The site has been ploughed heavily, the bank now being less than 1m high and 30m x 30m internally. Probably a pre-medieval homestead, it has been suggested that it is the site of an early chapel, either Bettws Bwchwdw or Capel Tegeryn. <9>
Description Bettws Bwchwdw- site of an early building on an eminence three quarters of a mile south of Parys mountain, towards the western end. (Jones 1855, 26) The site is usually associated with Pen y Fynwent. This is a pentagonal earthwork enclosure defined by a 1m high bank and external ditch c. 30m x 30m internally. (RCAHMW 1937, 146). it may also be the same as Cape! Tegeryn, described as by Trysglwyn (HH No. 12; Baynes 1921, No. 64). Mwchwdw (Machwdo, Bwchwdw) is thought to be the name of a saint (Baring-Gould and Fisher 1911 , iii, 505). They also say a tombstone from the site was used as a door-step to a house in the parish. Discussion The well preserved remains of an enclosure, which may pre-date the chapel and be of prehistoric origin. One (and possibly two) prehistoric tumuli are located in the same field just N of Penyfynwent. Scheduled. The inclusion of the site within the Valor Ecclesiasticus and later lists confirms its status as a church, quite possibly for serving the southern part of the large parish of Amlwch. (Davidson, 2004).
